UNICEF: Namibia’s worst drought in 30 years

Post navigation

The worst drought in 3 decades is currently affecting Namibia. One third of its population is moderately or severely food insecure.

460 000 people are in urgent need of food aid and paediatric malnutrition has increased by 76 percent in some regions. The Ovahimba people don’t have any milk or meat left. Their harvests have failed and some of their cattle have died. Men travel up to 140km to find grazing for the few cattle they have left.Mbete Tjiposa supports several families with her monthly pension of US $50. 50 Kilograms of maize cost US $30.

The Zemba people have also been affected. Some families live on one portion of watery maize porridge a day. KariamakujuKauta has not received any food aid from the government yet and she has only one week of maize supplies left for her family. She is worried about her children because they go to bed without eating anything and they are fainting of hunger.

With the situation rapidly reaching dire conditions, will communities make it to the end of the dry season — which is expected to last until December?

With the number of people in need rising, funding is proving insufficient. UNICEF needs $ 7.4 million to reach an estimated 109 000 children at risk of malnutrition.